Seventh graders from Berkeley’s Black Pine Circle School, a San Francisco man who went from homelessness to hacking, the heads of the TechShop chain of fabrication studios, and DIY doyenne Brit Morin were among more than 100 makers from 25 states who strutted their stuff in front of an impressed Pres. Barack Obama.

“What on earth have you done to my house?” Obama joked after viewing exhibits like a giant robot giraffe and a huge red weather balloon. Overall, the event had a serious purpose: help America expand manufacturing by focusing on creative new product ideas. The White House says 13 federal agencies are teaming up with companies like Etsy and Kickstarter to help Americans access startup capital and tools to develop new products.

“We’ve got to make sure that more Americans have the skills and opportunities to land a job in a growing industry or to create entire new industries,” Obama said. “That’s why I’m declaring today a national day of making.”

TechShop CEO Mark Hatch, who attended along with TechShop founder Jim Newton, said in a statement that the membership chain — which operates like a gym for DIY types — aims to” democratize access to tools and empower makers from all walks of life.” Among TechShop creations showcased at the fair was the Embrace Warmer, a portable, low-energy device to rapidly stabilize body temperature for hypothermic infants in developing countries at a a fraction of the cost of incubators.

Morin, sometimes dubbed Martha Stewart for Millennials, said her San Francisco based Brit + Co is rolling out four new programs in honor of the White House event. They include a new cohort of “campus ambassadors” who would host maker events at colleges nationwide; an annual “Makeathon” focused on creating a new tool to solve a broad problem; a “makers in residence” program for selected women to have free co-working space at company HQ; and free e-classes for K-12 students on topics like 3-D printing, graphic design and electronics.

“We’re focused on getting girls and women excited about technology and making,” she said. “We think now more than ever is the opportunity for people to turn their creativity into a business. The Internet has democratized how easy it can be to start a business, grow an audience, sell your products, offer your skills.”

Nicole Shariat Farb, CEO of San Francisco’s Darby Smart, which sells DIY craft kits (as does Brit + Co), was another White House attendee. The fair showcased “amazing creativity from automating pancake making to creating an Obama bust out (of) a 3-D printer,” she said in a statement. Her favorite quote: “Today’s DIY is tomorrow’s Made in America.”

East Bay seventh graders Jane Yarnell and Sam Schickler, along with their science teacher Christine Mytko, represented Black Pine Circle School. The school makers’ club partnered with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to create models from high-resolution scans of everyday objects.

Other Bay Area inventions spotlighted at the event included a $5 chemistry set by Stanford professor Manu Prakash,a 3-D printer from Mountain View-based Made in Space and San Francisco’s Nomiku, which makes a sous-vide system for home cooks.